https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/painmeds_analgesics
Heavy or long-term use of some of these medicines, such as ibuprofen, naproxen, and higher dose aspirin, can cause chronic kidney disease known as chronic interstitial nephritis. The warning labels on over-the-counter analgesics tell you not to use these medicines for more than 10 days for pain and more than three days for fever. If you have pain and/or fever for a longer time, you should see your doctor. The doctor can check for possible medical problems and advise you about what medications you should take…
As I’ve mentioned before, I take a lot of aspirin (although I’m not sure it helps). My generic bottle of aspirin says: 1 or 2 tablets every 4 hours, or 3 tablets every 6 hours, not to exceed 12 tablets in 24 hours.
No, I don’t exceed the recommended dosage, but the label doesn’t say anything about not taking it for more than 10 days. But, since I’ve been taking aspirin just about every day for the last 4 years (after stopping prescription drugs), I’m wondering if my back pain is a sign of kidney problems.
However, if I were to see a doctor, what would be his or her advice to manage my pain? Certainly not any kind of prescription painkiller, right?
I can predict that the opioid war is going to cause a lot of kidney damage, because as far as I know, opioids don’t cause kidney damage. The only warning appears to be for those suffering from renal failure:
http://www.palliativedrugs.com/download/08_06_Prescribing%
20Opioids%20in%20Renal%20Patients[1][1].pdf
Great care is required when prescribing opioids to patients with impaired renal function. Many opioids (and/or their active/toxic metabolites) are renally excreted e.g. morphine. Accumulation occurs in renal failure potentially leading to extreme opioid sensitivity…
Which is worse, the potential for addiction with opioids or the higher potential for kidney damage with over-the-counter drugs? I sure hope the medical industry is ready for a butt-load of patients with kidney damage.
Hey, doctors, how the fuck am I supposed to manage my constant pain without doing even more damage? Oh, I see, ya’ll don’t care, right? Because drug war. (Doctors suck.)
All Things Chronic 
I used to take a lot of aspirin. But I used to thin out my blood a lot
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How did you know your blood got thinner? Did you have problems with uncontrollable bleeding?
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I feel the same way I do when I eat grapefruit. Like, dehydrated.
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I believe that’s just the anti-inflammatory effect, which may thin out your blood, but that can make your blood flow more easily (something old people usually need).
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I’ve discussed this at length with my primary doctor, and he agrees that opioids are way way way more benign when taken long term (unless combined with acetaminophen or ibuprofen, obviously).
Tylenol has a very low threshold between acceptable dosage and irreversible liver damage. Aspirin I don’t think is as hard on the kidneys as ibuprofen? The risk of GI side effects like stomach ulcers and spontaneous gi bleeding is higher in aspirin, and aspirin causes the kidneys to excrete more protein potentially leading to a nephrotic syndrome, but as far as causing nephritis? Eh…you’d probably have to take max dose for a decade or more.
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I’ll make an appointment with my nephrologist and you can pretend to be me to get your beans checked out. I doubt they’ll even notice until the lab results come back. 😉
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Are everyone’s kidneys the same size? Because I’m thinking that my kidneys wouldn’t fit inside your tiny, little body. 🙂
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I think adult kidneys tend to be around the same size, within a couple centimeters. Men have larger kidneys than women, and kidneys shrink when they start to crap out.
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